Independence Day in a Mennonite Colony
In Spanish Lookout, it appears that every year the holiday becomes more important. This year for example if you would have driven down Center Avenue you would have thought it was Sunday. Stores closed, processing plants silent, restaurants dark. Have the modern Mennonites become more patriotic? Although millenials may not be that excited about patriotism, Gen Z is now taking the reins and infecting Gen Y with their enthusiastic flag-waving approach to this national day, September 21, the birth of our country. Since the holiday fell on a Sunday this yeat it was observed on Monday. I thought perhaps businesses might be open due to not observing it on the actual day but I was wrong. The night before Independence Day certain Mennonites from the community headed to Belmopan for the evening parade and midnight fireworks. I've been there, done that. Trumpets, drums, tobacco, alcohol, dancing and smoke from food vendors. A wonderfully glorious, patriotic and chaotic event.
Chaos and patriotism were unheard of in Roseville, a small colony of Noah Hoover Mennonites nestled in the foothills of the Maya Mountains. For them it was a normal Monday. A young woman had heard it had something to do with Independence Day...but what exactly did that mean? A school student had not the remotest idea of the rest of the national anthem except for the opening line, Oh Land of the Free by the Carib Sea. No flags on their buggies or walls or anywhere at all. Over the whole village, peace and tranquility reigned.
Things were even more unpatriotic in Neuland, an Old Colony Mennonite community in northeastern Belize. The girls milked cows and baked bread just like any other day. Men welded using diesel-powered welders and ran carpentry tools with gasoline generators. No clue as to what day it was or who George Price was. The fact that military confrontations between Guatemala and Belize were increasingly likely simply did not register. Can you draw the flag of Belize? Sorry, no. But the children were rosy-cheeked and content, the family was self-employed with a thriving farm, grew most of their own food, built their own house, constructed their furniture, and owned every inch of their land. I could be wrong but seems to me they know far more about independence than the rest of Belizeans beating drums and waving flags.
Old Colony Mennonite girl milking
The Holdeman, Beachy Amish, and Conservative Mennonites are balancing a thin line between patriotism and evangelism. As scattered as they are throughout the country, and as varied as they are in ethnicity, I have observed enough to realize that even though their doctrines forbid them from any political and military engagement whatsover, it certainly doesn't prevent them from remaining up to date on current news and events regarding the territorial dispute between Belize and Guatemala and the latter's continuous aggression on the southern border. Which means that for many local and indigenous members of these churches, Independence Day is a bit more than just a typical holiday. Perhaps they would never indulge in all sorts of wild carnivals and dancing or stick flags on their cars but for some of them watching school parades and fireworks and observing the holiday out of respect is completely fine.
A. Mendoza
